Tube dispenser

ABSTRACT

THE PRESENT INVENTION RELATES TO THE DISPENSING OF NESTED COLLAPSIBLE TUBES AND INCLUDES A DISPENSING CONDUIT, GATE MEANS DISPOSED AT THE DISPENSING END OF THE CONDUIT AND CLAMP MEANS SPACED UPSTREAM OF THE GATE MEANS AND ARRANGED TO ENGAGE AN ARTICLE ADJACENT THERETO, CONTROL MEANS INTERCONNECTING THE GATE MEANS IN THE RETAINING MEANS AND PNEUMATIC MEANS DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID GATE MEANS AND CLAMP MEANS AND ARRANGED TO DEBOUCHE INTO THE DISPENSING CONDUIT TO INTRODUCE A STREAM OF AIR INTO THE CONDUIT AT OR TOWARDS THE REAR OF A TUBE TOWARDS THE GATE MEANS SO THAT WITH THE GATE MEANS IN THE OPEN POSITION AND THE CLAMP MEANS IN THE CLAMPING POSITION THE ARTICLE OR ARTICLES TO BE DISPENSED ARE EJECTED FROM THE DISPENSING TUBE.

Feb. 20, 1973 T. D. BROWNBILL 3,7

TUBE DISPENSER Filed Feb. 1. 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 a a I a QM Fl 9 8 R 2 i f m H w :NN HQ lwfi mm xwm Jifl wwwu? 3 8 NFR w? .I. R 8 8 J K N 1 R Q 3 5 G T. D. BROWNBILL Feb. 20, 1973 TUBE DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. ll. 1971 United States Patent 3,717,281 TUBE DISPENSER Thomas Duncan Brownbill, Uxbridge, England, assignor to John Dale Limited, London, England Filed Feb. 11, 1971, Ser. No. 114,645 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Apr. 17, 1970, 18,542/70 Int. Cl. B6511 3/08 U.S. Cl. 221-278 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to the dispensing of nested collapsible tubes and includes a dispensing conduit, gate means disposed at the dispensing end of the conduit and clamp means spaced upstream of the gate means and arranged to engage an article adjacent thereto, control means interconnecting the gate means in the retaining.

The present invention relates to the dispensing or indexing of articles from a stack or sequence of such articles. There is particular reference, although the present invention is not limited thereto, to the indexing or dispensing of a conical member such as a flaired collapsible tube from a stack of such similar members.

Hitherto, the indexing of such articles in processing and filling machines has been effected by hand. This is a time consuming and labour intensive operation.

According to the present invention, there is provided apparatus for dispensing nested collapsible tubes which apparatus comprises a closed conduit for guiding of articles to be dispensed, gate means disposed at or towards a dispensing end of said conduit, said gate means being movable between a dispensing position and a closed position, clamp means spaced upstream of said gate means and arranged to engage an article there adjacent, control means inter-connecting said gate means and said clamp means, and pneumatic means disposed between said gate means and said clamp means to debouche into said closed conduit, the arrangement being such that with the control means in a first position, the gate means is in the dispensing position and the clamp means acts to retain the article adjacent to it, the pneumatic means introducing a stream of air into said conduit at or towards the rear of at least the article towards said gate means thereby causing or allowing one or more articles between the clamp means and the gate means to be dispensed or indexed from the conduit and such that with the control means in the second position, the clamp means is rendered inoperative and the gate is closed thereby permitting a further article or articles to occupy the conduit between said gate means and said clamp means prior to being dispensed therefrom.

It is preferred that the control means acts on both the gate and the clamp means and lost motion means is provided between the gate and the control means. It is pre- 3,717,281 Patented Feb. 20, 1973 ferred that the control means is a pneumatically driven rod and that the gate means comprises a pivotable finger movable arcuately about its pivot point between an open position whereby it is free of the conduit and a closed position in which it obturates the conduit, lost motion means being provided between said control rod and said finger. Cam means is preferably provided on the control rod to move the clamp means between the retaining and free positions.

The following is a description by way of example and with reference to the accompanying informal drawings, of a method of carrying the invention into effect. The invention will be particularly described with reference to the dispensing or indexing of single tubes from a stack of tubes which are flaired in the manner described in our co-pending application No. 883,129.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view partly in section of the dispensing and indexing unit device in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a section plan view partially in section of the front conduit portion of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the connection sleeve of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an end view of a support of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

The apparatus essentially comprises a front conduit 10 and a rear conduit 12 each constituted by a substantially cylindrical tube and joined together by means of intermediate sleeve 21 which together constitute the guide means. The front conduit 10 is provided towards its forward end with a longitudinal slot 13 extending inwardly from the forward edge of the cylindrical tube constituting the conduit 10. At its rearward end, the outer surface of the conduit 10 is provided in its outer surface with an expanded portion 14, the rearward part of the expanded portion 14 carrying a screw thread 15 on its outer surface. The expanded portion 14 carries a radial drilling 16 extending inwardly from the outer surface thereof, the inner extremity of which is spaced outwardly of the inner surface of a cylindrical bore 17 of conduit 10. The drilling 16 is threaded on its inner surface and is provided towards its inner end with a radial passage 18 extending rearwardly of the drilling 16 and longitudinally of conduit 10, said passage 18 debouching into an annular plenum chamber having eight circumferentially spaced outlet nozzles 20 extending therefrom and inclined inwardly and forwardly at an angle of substantially 60 to the longitudinal axis of conduit 10 so that a jet of air passing from said plenum chamber 19 through each of the nozzles 20 has a substantial component in the forward direction.

The tube 10 is connected at its rearward end, with intermediate sleeve 21 which is provided in a forward part 22 with an internally threaded bore 23 which extends inwardly from the forward end of sleeve 21 to a distance approximately of the total longitudinal extent 'of the sleeve. The rearward threaded threads 15 of conduit 10 are threadably engaged with a forward threaded bore 23 of sleeve to connect the conduit 10 with said sleeve 21. The forward bore 23 terminates in an inwardly directed annular abutment 25 which serves to separate the forward bore 23 from a rearward bore 26 which extends through the remainder of the sleeve, the rear part of bore 26 being provided with an internal thread 27 about the inner surface thereof. The sleeve is provided with a radial threaded passage 28 in an upper surface thereof and spaced rearwardly of abutment 25, said passage being adapted to receive a Phosphor bronze bush 3'1.

Diametrically opposed to said passage 28 there is provided a thread drilling 29.

The threads 27 of the rearward bore portion of sleeve 21 are adapted to engage with the threaded expanded forward portion 30 on the external surface of the forward end of rear conduit 12, the arrangement being such that conduit 10, sleeve 21 and conduit 12 together define a longitudinal passage of conduit of substantially circular cross-section.

The lower radial drilling 29 of sleeve 21 carries a threaded stud 35 having a head 36, said stud being screwed into the drilling and carrying in clamping engagement with the inner surface of the sleeve, a gripper element 37 having a rubber gripping surface 38 for the purpose of gently retaining the fiaired end of a collapsible tube disposed adjacent thereto for the purpose of retaining said tube with respect to the conduit, for instance, by the inclusion of spaces between the inner surface of the sleeve and the gripper. Stud 35 can be adjusted to provide corresponding adjustment of gripper 37 to allow adjustment of the gripper position to permit the apparatus to be used with batches of tubes of different diameters.

The outer bore 28 accommodates a Phosphor bronze bush 31 which supports a cylindrical element 40 Which is radially slidable inwardly and outwardly with respect to sleeve 21. The element 40 is provided in its inner end with an axial bore 41 which accommodates a securing stud 42 carrying a movable gripper 43 having a gripper pad 44, the arrangement being such that the datum position of the gripper 43 and gripper pad 44 can be adjusted by means of stud 42 together with suitable spacer elements.

The element 40 is spring biassed to an inner datum position by means of a spring 45 acting between the upper surface of gripper 43 and the inner surface of sleeve 21.

The upper end of element 40 is provided with a trans verse passage 47 which is adapted to accommodate control rod 50, said passage having a diameter substantially greater than the overall diameter of control rod 50. The control rod is longitudinally slidable and carries a cam member 51, the arrangement being such that the passage 47 is adapted to co-operate with a cam member 51 carried by rod 50 to cause element 40 to ride up against its spring loading in response to the coaction between cam element 51 in the internal surface of the transverse passage 47 to produce corresponding upward movement of the gripper pad 44 thereby releasing the retaining means and permitting articles to pass along the conduit defined by front conduit 10, rear conduit 12, sleeve 21.

The forward conduit carries juxtaposed the rearward end of slot 13, a front support 60 comprising an annular ring adapted to fit about the outer surface of conduit 10 having an upstanding portion 61 of substantially triangular end elevation which is cut away upwardly from the inner surface of the annulus defining the ring to provide an upwardly extending rectangular portion 62 debouching upwardly into a ciricular portion 63 and terminating in an upper slot 64. The annulus is provided with three spaced radial drillings each adapted to receive a set screw for securing the annulus about the outer surface of conduit part 10. The upstanding portion 61 is provided towards the upper end of rectangular portion 62 with a transverse bore 70 adapted to receive a pivot pin 71, A tapped bore 72 is provided laterally on one side of circular part 63 and accommodates a threaded guide pin 74.

A similar support 75 is provided about the rear conduit 12 and is provided at its upper end with a hole 76 which is adapted to accommodate the forward end of a one inch stoke double-acting pneumatic ram 77. The support 75 is also provided with set screws and is secured to conduit 12 in the same way as support 60 is secured to conduit 10, the arrangement being such that ram 77,

and circular part 63 of support 60 are co-axial. The ram 77 has, at its forward end, a piston rod 78.

Control rod 50 is connected by a threaded sleeve 79 to the forward threaded end of piston rod 78. The control rod passes in spaced parallel relationship with the axis of the conduit, and passes through the bore 47 in the upper part of element 40 and extends through circular part 63. The forward end of control rod 50 is provided with a planar surface 80 which is adapted to co-operate with stud 74 in order to prevent or restrain rotation of rod 50 about its axis during operation. Rod 50 is further provided with a slot 81 extending vertically through the rod towards the forward end thereof, the extent of the slot in the lower surface being substantially greater than the length of the slot in the upper surface, the ends 82 of the slot extending downwardly from the upper surface of the rod and divergently with respect thereto, to define an angle of substantially 45 with the longitudinal axis of rod 50.

Pivot pin 71 carries a gate finger 84 which is pivotable arcuately above pin 71. Finger 84 is fixedly connected with abutment arm 85 for arcuate movement therewith about pivot 71, said abutment arm 85 extending upwardly of pivot 71, at an angle with respect to finger 84, and through slot 81 at the forward end of rod 50 so that forward-rearward movement of rod 50 will cause arcuate movement of the finger 84 about pivot 71. Finger 84 is provided with a spring attachment point which engages with spring 91 secured to an attachment point 92 spaced rearwardly of support 60, the arrangement being such as to bias finger 84 arcuately rearwardly against the rearward edge of slot 13 in the forward end of forward conduit portion '10.

In operation, a stack of nesting fiaired tubes are inserted in the rearward end of conduit 12. The device is disposed with the conduit axis substantially vertical and the tubes are entered nozzle first in the rearward end of the conduit. Air passage 16, 18 and ram 77 are connected to an appropriate air supply. In the rest position, the control rod '50 is in its forward position, the finger 84 is abutting the rearward edge of slot 13 to close the dispensing end of the conduit and the cam 51 engages the upper part of bore 47 in element 40 to maintain gripper 43 and gripper pad 44 out of contact with the tubes disposed in the conduit. The spacing between finger 84 and the gripper assembly is such that the grippers 44 in the operative position will engage the penultimate tube in the stack thereby permitting the end tube to be dispensed from the conduit.

On applying air to the double acting pneumatic ram 77, the control rod 50 is caused to move rearwardly. The initial rearward movement of the control rod causes the cam 51 to disengage from bore 47 in element 40 and to permit gripper pad 44 to move downwardly under the bias of spring 45 to engage the rearward flaired portion of the penultimate tube in the stack. Continued rearward movement causes the forward end of slot 81 in rod 50 to engage abutment arm 85 and withdraw the arm 85 arcuately rearwardly about pivot 731 thereby causing finger 84 to move forwardly and arcuately upwardly in slot 13 and out of the conduit 10.

At the same time, the rod 50 causes operation of a microswitch to disconnect the air from the double acting pneumatic ram 77 and to supply air via passage 18 and plenum chamber 19 to nozzles 20 to provide a jet of air forwardly along the conduit which engages under the flared end of the end tube in the stack to propel the tube from the conduit to its index position in an assembly line. On completion of this operation, the air supply is switched to the other end of the double acting ram thereby causing the control rod 50 to move forwardly with respect to the apparatus.

Forward movement of the rod 50 permits arcuate movement of finger 84 about its pivot 71 under the action of its spring bias of spring 91 until the rearward edge of finger 84 abuts the rearward extremity of slot 13 and conduit portion 10 thereby obstructing the exit from the conduit. Continued forward movement of the control rod brings cam element 51 into engagement with the bore 47 in element 40 which causes upward movement of element 40 and thereby causes gripper pad 44 to move out of engagement with the tubes in the stack and to permit the stack to advance until the forward tube in the stack is abutting the rearward edge of finger 84 thereby permitting the apparatus to cycle once again.

It has been found desirable to incorporate a restrictor 100 in air passage 18 to control the velocity with which the tube is ejected from the forward end of conduit portion 10. In practice, it has been found possible to operate the apparatus at speeds of to 400 cycles per minute. The air feed supplied to the piston and/or to the air passage is preferably within the range 30 to 70 lbs./sq. in. and the rate of feed can be adjusted by restrictor 100. At the same time, the apparatus can accommodate a limited variation in tube size by the adjustment provided on the grippers.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for dispensing nested collapsible tubes, which apparatus comprises:

a closed conduit for guiding a stack of nested tubes to be dispensed,

gate means disposed towards a dispensing end of said conduit, said gate means being movable between a dispensing position and a closed position; clamp means spaced upstream of said gate means and arranged to engage a tube there-adjacent, said clamp means including a movable member spring-urged into engagement with one side of a tube and a yieldable member engageable with the opposite side of the tube,

control means interconnecting said gate means and said movable member, and

pneumatic means disposed between said gate means and said clamp means to debouche into said closed circuit to introduce streams of air into said conduit circumferentially thereabout at or towards the rear of the tube .to be dispensed,

said control means being movable between a first position in which said gate means is in a dispensing position and the clamp means act to retain the tube adjacent thereto thereby enabling the tube between the clamp means and the gate means to be dispensed from said conduit with the assistance of said pneumatic means, and a second position in which the clamp means and the pneumatic means is rendered inoperative and the gate means is closed to permit at least one further tube to occupy the conduit between said gate means and said clamp means prior to being dispensed therefrom.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein a lost motion linkage being provided between the control means and the gate means.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the control means is a pneumatically driven rod and wherein the gate means comprises a pivotable finger movable arcuately about a pivot point between and open position whereby it is free of the conduit and a closed position in which it obturates the conduit.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the conduit is provided with a longitudinal slot in a forward end thereof and carries a support member juxtaposed the inner extremity of said slot, said member carrying the pivotable finger wherein said pivotable finger has a cranked portion which extends into a longitudinal slot in the control rod to provide a lost motion connection, and spring means to bias said finger to said closed position.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein cam means is provided on said control rod to move the movable member between a clamping position and a free position.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein a central portion of said conduit has a pair of radial diametrically opposed drillings, one of which is threaded and accommodates a threaded stud having the yieldable member at an inner end thereof, for the purpose of engaging a tube juxtaposed said member, the position of said member within said conduit being adjustable by screwing the stud within said drilling.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein the other drilling accommodates a push rod slidable therein between a clamping position and a free position, the movable member being fixedly secured to an inner end of said rod for movement between said clamp position and said free position in response to operation of said control means.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein spring means is disposed to bias said movable member to said clamping position, the control means serving to move said push rod and associated movable member against the spring bias to said free position.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the central portion of said conduit is expanded to accommodate the pneumatic means which is disposed within said expanded portion and adjacent said clamp means, said pneumatic means including an annular plenum chamber disposed about said conduit and a plurality of circumferentially spaced outlet nozzles disposed about the inner surface of said conduit.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein each nozzle is inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of said conduit and communicates with said plenum chamber whereby on introducing a stream of air into said chamber the resulting air stream debouching from each of said nozzles has a substantial component in a dispensing direction, of the conduit.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,734,657 2/1956 Drese 221278 X 3,099,120 7/1963 Bruun 221278 X 3,297,201 1/19'67 Burt 221251 X 2,738,899 3/ 1956 Hansen 221-278 X 3,191,804 6/1965 Amic 221251 X 3,175,240 3/1965 Hillard 221-278 X ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner T. E. KOCOVSKY, Assistant Examiner 

